On Track To Surpass 2005 Combined Sales Record

As every farmer worth his salt knows, you have to make hay while the sun shines... and that's probably good advice for aircraft manufacturers, too.

Bloomberg News reports both Airbus and Boeing expect 2007 will be the peak year for new airliner orders for the foreseeable future, and expect sales to drop off dramatically in the next year. So, they're selling all they can right now.

Combined, the two planemakers won contracts worth nearly $70 billion at this week's Dubai Air Show, with Airbus taking the lead with 297 orders and commitments. Boeing lagged behind with 155 new planes either sold, or on option.

Both companies are on track for record sales for 2007, and should exceed the combined record of 2,057 orders set in 2005. But over the next 12 months, Airbus sales guru John Leahy says, sales should return to "normal trend levels," with a combined 800 to 1,000 sales between the two.

As ANN reported, Airbus has already topped its previous record of 1,111 sales, set in 2005. After the Dubai show, Airbus lays claim to 1,316 orders and commitments from customers.

Boeing -- once considered a shoe-in for 2007 sales honors, following its trouncing of Airbus in sales in 2006 -- is running a distant second, with 985 gross orders recorded through November 13.

Not that the planemaker is complaining, however. "We all thought 2005 was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson recently. "All of us walked into 2007 believing we'd have a more moderate year, but it's been on pace with what we've seen in the last two.

"If you asked us to forecast, we'd probably say next year will be more moderate," Carson added.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.boeing.com